A Tale of Flynnigan Rider
by Whytegriffin
Summary: This is a possible version of the tale of Eugene Fitzherbert as an orphan. hopefully this is readable. I have no idea what went wrong last time I tried to post it!
1. Chapter 1

The night had gotten dark and it was very late because it was the deep of summer. Kay thought that she heard a noise in the dark - a quiet grunt - and she held her breath, listening to be certain. She heard it again.

"Eugene?" The noises stopped and the dark silence surrounded her. "Eugene, is that you?" The groan turned into a sigh.

"Kay, what are you doing up?"

"I was waiting for you."

"I told you I'd be fine."

"You're fine, are you? Does the master know that you're crawling back into the house?"

"He just said that he wasn't about to carry me in. I think I'm fine."

"What did he do to you?"

"Oh." He groaned, "you know - the usual."

"No, usually you walk in." She said in her big sister voice. "Eugene, why did you do it?"

"Do what, Kay?"

"You know what. Eugene, you ran away. You knew that that nice man and woman were going to take you away from here. You watched them for a long time! You told me that they were wonderful, that they would give one of us a family and a home! Oh, why didn't you go with them?" She sobbed.

"Kay, I thought-"

"You can't think all of the time, Eugene Fitzherbert. None of us want you to leave."

"Well, that -"

"You let me finish. We still wanted you to go. We want you to be happy like all of us want to be. We want you to be loved, Eugene, because you deserve it!"

"Bobby is younger than I am, and he needed them more. And what about the rest of you, Kay?" He asked. She could still barely see him in the dark, and she didn't dare touch him for fear of hurting him more.

"What about us? We're orphans! We'd be fi-"  
>"No, you wouldn't."<p>

"But-"

"I want all of you to be loved. I know how the master is. I just - I couldn't leave you guys all alone."

"Well, we would always have Flynnigan Rider."

"That isn't the same. I had an older brother once. It was a long time ago now, but I still know that he was important to me no matter how little I remember of him. I can't give you guys much love, I don't have much to give out. I'm just a selfish brat. But I will give you what I can."

"We'll never forget that, Fitzherbert." She whispered. "And you are not a selfish brat."

"Says you. Uh, Kay, you'd better get back to bed before the master hears."

"He must be sleeping soundly - or else you wouldn't have tried to come in." She strained her eyes to try and see what had happened to Eugene to put him on the ground like this, but she could still only make out his outline. "We missed your reading tonight."

"I'm sorry."

"I would like to hear you finish it just one more time, Eugene. You're just a little more than halfway through."

"Kay...what - what are you talking about?"

"I know that you've known for a long time, Eugene. I know that I won't live for long."

"Who told you, Kay? If it was that master, I'll - ugh!" He grunted in pain that punished his tensing muscles and he splayed himself on the floor again, collecting his breath in quiet, short gasps mixed with tears. Kay ran her fingers over his hair. She didn't dare touch him when she couldn't make out what the master had done to him.

"It wasn't him." She answered. "I came to realize it myself. One day... I just knew it."

"Kay, I'm sorry. I - maybe I should have told you what I knew."

"Eugene, we all know what the fever can bring. I was just too old, not lucky, I guess. I get to leave this place, Eugene. I'll finally see my family. Is that why you stayed?"

"Because I know that if I leave I'll never see you again? A little. Kay, we aren't even close to being related, but you're my sister just the same. You're the only family I've got, and now...now I...I'm going to lose..." Eugene couldn't go on. He had kept the tears within himself in the presence of any other human for more than a year. Now he cried, his voice cracking here and again, going low or going high; but Kay didn't laugh at any of it. She smoothed the hair on the back of his head like her mother had done for her. She would see her mother again, but Eugene would be left alone. She felt tears stinging her eyes for his loneliness and her hand moved down to his shoulders. In the same moment Eugene somehow muffled a sudden scream of pain while Kay nearly let out a scream herself, flinching so fast that she'd almost slapped herself in the face. Her fingertips were certainly wet, and she didn't need light to see with what.

"Eugene, what did he do to you?!" She demanded, trembling.  
>"He beat me."<p>

"With a whip!" She almost shouted. "Do you have any skin left on your back?" Eugene moaned and didn't answer. Kay got down nearer to him and touched gently at his neck to start. She didn't think that she would have to go down very far before she encountered jagged, raw flesh; and she was right. She barely encountered it when she changed her direction to try and explore in the dark just how bad his wounds were. Eugene was barely thirteen. He should never have been beaten like this in a hundred years. He could easily die from these marks; whether from infection or possibly even blood loss if her fingers had encountered wet blood so long after his punishment.

"I'll get you my blanket."

"No, Kay..."

"You're right, its far too rough."  
>"Kay, what are you...?"<p>

"Here. This is so much softer." She said as a delicate piece of cloth touched his shoulders. Kay still had a silk scarf from her home, one that she had been embroidering for some time now. Eugene realized in horror that that was the only thing owned by her or any of the orphans that could possibly be so soft.

"No! Kay, that's-"

"It's fine, Eugene." She chided him.

"It isn't going to wash clean, and after all the work you put into it!" He groaned.  
>"Well, this way I'll make sure I keep it, and then I can prove to the king's men that this master should be removed!"<p>

"You know that they'll never believe us."

"Someone will have to one day." she whispered wistfully. Suddenly Eugene tensed, causing him to flinch which Kay did not see.

"Hide." He gasped hoarsely, and she could finally see his eyes so intense that she obeyed him, slipping imperceptibly back to bed. At the same moment Eugene snatched the scarf from his back and hid it under the nearest mattress. He shuddered with a sudden chill and bit his tongue. Maybe the master was just making rounds as he did several times a night. He prayed that whatever the case that no talking had been heard. He thought perhaps to crawl back out, but he knew that he didn't have the strength to Go that far anymore. Instead the boy lay as still as possible, shivering and trembling, bracing himself and trying to rest all at once. It didn't really work. Behind him the door eased open. The master kept these doors well oiled and the floors of the hall well braced so he could come on anyone silent as death. Eugene felt his gaze sweep the room - and stop. The light went a little too far, and he knew it. It probably just hit the ragged hem of his trousers or possibly the heel of his foot. Either way the wretch had spotted him and although Eugene couldn't hear any movement, he knew that he was coming closer and that any moment he would either be suddenly dealt more pain or that the punishment would be preceded by a horrid curse. He closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip - but changed his mind and bit his tongue instead since it was a little harder to bite through.

"Eugene." He hissed, shaking his head. It was all Eugene could do to stop himself from whimpering at that sound. Now he leaned down beside him and put his mouth close to his ear. "You and I both know that your punishment wasn't over. I never said that you could come back indoors, did I?" Eugene just kept his breath even and refused to answer. "And you thought that by crawling into the wrong room would save yourself from me, didn't you?" Still Eugene graced him with no answer. He felt the cold, long fingers wrap around his arm and a second later his shoulder was almost dislocated and he was barely standing on his trembling legs. He couldn't tell if he had screamed or not and he couldn't see if anyone had been woken up by the commotion. "You will get what you deserve." He growled in the boy's ear. Everyone must still be sleeping. Eugene bit his lip again and bowed his head, letting the painful tears flow out of his eyes.

"Master Antoine?" The master's head snapped over toward the sound and Eugene was dropped almost to his knees as they buckled under him.

"Who is it?"

"It's I, sir. Kay. What is happening?" Kay was good at sounding as if she had just woken up. Eugene was thankful for that.

"Nothing, girl. Go back to sleep."

"Yes, sir. It's just that I thought I'd heard someone." For a second Eugene had thought she was going with a sympathetic routine - which would never work - but this might get him off...at the very least off of his feet.

"Someone who?"

"Just someone moving, I don't know who. I thought for a moment that was why you were in here."

"Tell me, why would someone be in this room, Kay?"

"I was confused, sir. At first I thought a thief - but there is nothing to steal here." She added the last part with a bitter chuckle. The look on the master's face was grim. One of them had to think of something fast! "Then I thought to myself it must have been a dream. But here I open my eyes to confirm it and I saw you. What has happened?" Master Antoine let Eugene drop without warning, knocking his head against a bed post. Kay started at the sound, but did not look away from the man as he came nearer, searching her innocent eyes. They were innocent. Lost, colored and whetted by sorrow - but not bitter. Never bitter. He saw that she spoke the truth, for she had. She had heard Eugene's crawling in a dream that had wakened her to the thoughts of thieves. She had opened her eyes to see the master standing and shaking her dear friend by one over-extended arm.

"It is perhaps the easiest room to enter." He muttered almost to himself. Kay wondered why that was. "And you did have a thief. I thief stealing the warmth from your room." Here he was about to lift Eugene higher, but remembered suddenly that he had cast him to the floor. He grabbed Eugene's arm and yanked him up by it with a terrible sound. Kay stifled a cry of terror and Eugene gasped, too surprised and terrified by a new pain to cry out. Antoine himself looked surprised. Indeed, he looked truly shocked. The boy's arm looked quite unnatural. This time the master had successfully dislocated Eugene's shoulder, and the poor thing stood there gasping and trembling, pushed too far to cry.

"Who is it? What have you done to him?" Kay demanded with a quiet sob.

"One of the impudent boys." He growled, not to be taken aback for long. "It is not your affair. To bed with you."

"If someone is hurt it is my affair."

"You? You are not a physician, Kay. Go back to bed." She didn't even look at Eugene again for fear of making his further punishment worse, but she felt his eyes pierce briefly into her heart, begging her to listen and save herself. She could fight another day.

"Yes, master Antoine." She replied, lying down and pulling the blanket to her neck. It was getting colder outside. She heard Eugene cough and then sob when his arm must have moved, but no footsteps receded. What on earth was the master doing? She didn't dare look up to find out. Finally she heard him whimper again and saw the light go out as the door was closed. She prayed that the King would come this time to visit instead of just his lenient, lying emissary. All of them were treated this way, but especially those who stood up for the rest of them. Certainly many of them had died of sickness - but that was often brought on by the master's cruel treatment of them. The king didn't know this. He didn't know any of this. He couldn't! But he was not often in his kingdom. He was searching high and low for his daughter, unaware of how the orphan children of his kingdom were treated. He would never approve of this, he couldn't! He was too kind, too gentle. He must be a good King, he just had to be!

Kay stifled a sob into her pillow and prayed that when morning came her brother orphan would still be alive.


	2. Chapter 2

Eugene trembled, trying to keep from shaking in the cold dark. Even shivering hurt too much for him to bear, but he couldn't stop it from happening. It had to be getting close to morning soon. All of this because Antoine, the master, had not gotten rid of him that day.

Maybe Kay was right. Maybe he should have gone. But no. Bobby was so young, and his parents had been gone for much less than a year. Master Antoine had had little time to abuse him as he had Eugene, and Eugene knew that they all deserved better.

His left side hurt and his foot was falling asleep, but he didn't want to move his arm again. He was lying on his dislocated shoulder just as Antoine had tossed him into the root cellar and it just took too much effort for him to move. He was so tired of hurting that he just wanted to die.

A shudder passed through him and he cried out when it moved his back. He could barely make the outline of the food in the cellar, much of which was too good for them to touch. But that meant that there was more light outside. Dawn must be coming on - but it was taking so long, and it all looked so fuzzy.

He ventured to move his good arm, gritting his teeth against the pain, and put his freezing hand next to his head. Oh, it felt good for a moment! His brow was burning hot somehow and the contrast was welcome, but then it made him feel sick, and he convulsed suddenly into a ball, his back arching out. He sobbed and wheezed at the sudden movement that he had been unable to stop. Maybe he would die in that root cellar. Maybe, just maybe the master couldn't hide it from the king if he was able to come this time. Eugene didn't care if he was dead as long as the other children would finally be treated like children. He didn't know. It didn't matter now. Everything was getting dark again. Maybe it was evening already. Eugene didn't know for sure. The only thing that he did know was that the pain escalated all at once and suddenly he couldn't feel a thing anymore.

Kay barely slept at all the rest of the night. She kept thinking that she was hearing things, small cries in the night, perhaps from the other children, but when she listened closely there was no sound. On the other hand she was jerked awake every time the master made his rounds of the halls. Antoine didn't even like children! Why did he work so hard to stay in the position? Because he enjoyed torturing them?

It was some relief to her when she could finally see the tiniest hint of grey light hemming the windows. It would be time to rise soon. She was ready for it. The youngest children would all be looking for Eugene, the master could not hide him for long. She'd heard no more creeping upon the floors nor had she heard any shrieks of pain coming from anywhere, so that meant that Eugene had not been beaten further but yet he had also not dragged himself to his bed. So what had been done with him? Was his shoulder set? Were his wounds at the very least covered though they truly needed cleaning and treating and binding? Kay was fearfully certain that they had not been.

The clanging of the odious morning 'bell' suddenly sounded, shaking the inhabitants of the orphanage from their beds in horror. Then it was a race to the death for all of them to be dressed and to help the youngest ones be dressed before the master came with his switch.

Kay scooted the youngest girl into the hall before her, placing herself at the very end of the line as its head while being certain that she was close enough to the head of the boy's room. Ryden looked very very unhappy and, as he was standing beside her, chose to risk words.

"Rider didn't come back last night."

"He tried getting in through my room. Caught."

"He... God help him, the master -"

"Shhhhhss." Abby, the watcher, sounded her warning.

The two elders stood straight against the wall and the master stepped in. His face was white and drawn, but no more than normal. It looked as if nothing unusual had happened even though Bobby wasn't there to be punished by him anymore.

Kay almost held her breath. Would he make any mention of Eugene? There was utter silence as he walked down the line of children. They had at this point mastered the art of breathing soundlessly. Kay thought for a moment that he was going to stop at her and reprimand her for the night before, he did stop and looked her over for longer than he did the other children, but in the end not a word was passed amongst them. He knew that one child was gone to a family and he knew to where another had gone. She bit her tongue because he would see her biting her lip. Where had Eugene gone?

"Go to breakfast." He said at last.

The children did not acknowledge with a word or a bow, but turned and filed to the dining hall in quiet order like they were meant to. The two scullery maids were grown orphans who had never left, either because they had no hope for life or because they did not want to leave the hopeless entirely alone in the world. Whichever the case they were still rarely able to give comfort to the orphans, but never the less served their breakfast. Kay glanced about her, but did not see the master in his usual place. What was he doing? What was going on? She got up quietly and came to one of the maids, who looked completely surprised to see her.

"What are you doing here, miss?" She gasped.

"My name is Kay." Kay corrected her, tired of Antoine and everything that he did.

"I want to know where Master Antoine has gone."

"I - don't know, miss. He goes where he wills."

"I know that already. Do you know where he has gone? He took one of my friends last night and I can not find him." The scullery maid blanched briefly when Kay said that, but she turned away.

"Please!" Kay pleaded. "I'm afraid that he may be dying."

"I can't tell what I don't know, miss!" The frightened girl replied. "He will be coming back at any moment. Please sit in your place!"

Kay sighed in defeat and turned, trudging back to her seat. Why was Antoine gone? None of this had happened before and it worried her greatly. She sat down before her porridge, but she couldn't touch it. She was certain that she was hungry, but right now she could not stand the thought of eating.

Behind her she heard the door burst open and Antoine rushed past them out into the hall. Ryden locked eyes with Kay. Something was going on. Antoine never ran anywhere. The building was not very large or they never would have discerned heightened, almost frightened and certainly accusing whispering coming from the master to the porter. The porter, who was a friendly man of middle age, answered back with his usual slowness of understanding.

Whatever Antoine was worried about he could not dump it on another person this time. So it was not Eugene - which either meant that Eugene had been forgotten or that as yet he was not in immediate danger of death. Antoine came back through the dining hall, has brow bent in a way that made them all tremble, fumbling with something - keys - in his pocket and taking a crust of bread from the long table where the scullery maids served the breakfast. Eugene was under lock and key. There were many places that the master kept locked, but only a few that would serve as a holding cell and none of them pleasant. She was not reassured, just more frightened now for her little brother.

"Kay. Kay."

"Hmm? Yes?" She whispered in reply to the girl at her elbow.

"Aren't you hungry, Kay? Master will call order soon."

"I can't eat." Kay gasped. "You take it for me. You're a growing girl."

"Really, Kay?"

"Are you still hungry?"

"Well, yes. But -"

"Then please eat it. I can't touch a bite."

She said, all under her breath though nothing short of emotion for it.

"Switch plates so he can't tell."

She whispered, taking Charlotte's empty plate. Charlotte took the plate eagerly, sharing it with the rest of the girls around her. Kay turned her head to the door. The Master was once again a long time in coming.

The night didn't last very long if it had been night. Whatever the case, he wanted to get out and tell Kay that he was alright. There was a door above him somewhere, he knew that. Could he get to the door? Doubtful. It opened again. Uhuh. Nothing was making sense. He felt so heavy that he knew he must be sleeping, but if he opened his eyes he could see if anything was going on. Eugene couldn't understand how he could be awake and sleeping at the same time. He heard Antoine grumbling and cursing him, which didn't phase him, he often heard it. Better him than one of the younger children. Someone - Antoine - grabbed his right arm and flipped him onto his back, which made him scream. He dropped the right arm, which Eugene didn't care about because right now his back was burning, barking with pain for him to get off of it. Antoine grabbed his left hand now, which made Eugene cringe, and stepped on Eugene's shoulder. Eugene couldn't do a thing. It hurt so much that he just lay there awaiting death, not knowing if or how it could get worse. Antoine ripped his arm up unconcernedly and Eugene yelped at the surprise. It had gotten worse. His breath was coming in high, short gasps because he was not allowing them to becoming the pitiable sobs that the master would mock. He threw the crust of bread - which happened to be fresh - in the boy's face and sneered,

"Now you've made me late for my breakfast, boy."

Eugene just lay there, blinding pain or no. He did not want to give Antoine the pleasure of seeing him try to rise. The master scoffed, kicked Eugene aside and fled up the stairs into the warmth. The door above him closed and he heard the key in the lock. Good. No one would be down there for a good while now. The boy pushed his back from the ground, wincing, whimpering, gritting his teeth like none other as he did so until finally he was lying on his belly. That reminded him, it was empty. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast of the day before. Dinner had been forgotten in his flight, supper was flatly denied him. Eugene reached back beside him, his fingers just reaching the bread, making him smile just a tiny bit with contentment.

He dragged his arm forward with some discomfort before coming to the issue of raising his head. That hurt almost too much for him to justify eating a thing, but he knew that he needed to - plus Kay would kill him if he didn't eat. The bread was good, baked the night before and not from three days ago. Either Antoine had not known this or he had been too hurried to care.

There had to be some reason that he had set Eugene's arm back in its socket, but he also hadn't touched the gouges on his back that got more painful hour by hour. He was glad that he couldn't see his own back, because it probably looked disgusting. Eugene swallowed the last bit of bread and lay his head down again. That felt better. His head didn't hurt quite so much, or his back - actually, he really didn't feel a thing, and he knew that couldn't be good, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He closed his eyes, trying to relieve his burning and chilling body with sleep. He found himself vaguely wondering if he really should have eaten, but sleep too easily overtook his thoughts.

The master appeared abruptly in the dining hall with his plate and mug before him, as unconcerned with his underlings as ever. The children gaped in surprise at each other. They had already finished their meal in haste as they always did, not expecting him to take such leisure for the breakfast. Kay's face grew hot just looking at him. What had that dog done to Eugene? She turned her eyes from him just as his started roving the room, as if he were searching out a culprit or some manner of scapegoat. Kay trembled inwardly. Antoine did not care who he hurt or how they were hurt. He just wanted what he wanted and that was that.

She ventured another look at him through her softly swept hair. He was pompous, sure of himself. Angry, most likely still angry with Eugene. Flustered. The master had no control over something that Kay felt may very well happen soon. The semi-annual tour of the orphanage was cited to take place in the next month. Perhaps it's coming was sooner than anticipated. They could only hope. If he had misjudged his mark and the king was able to come this time - well, there was no way that she would be silent if she would truly be heard. Even if Antoine covered his tracks and lied about Eugene it would not be hard for her to speak out, not with the master so nervous this time.

If they could get justice finally, if just this once. Not just for Eugene, for all of them - and yet especially for Eugene. Many of them had been through hard times, particularly those who remembered their parents, but Kay had always seen something different in his eyes. She'd heard him mutter about it before, once when they were locked outdoors together several years before, when he had fallen asleep first. His past terrified him to the point that he had little memory of it. His name was Eugene, that was it. They weren't even certain if the surname was right. She believed that to be the reason that he was so kind to all of the others, why he stood so often for them against the master.

Yes, the master. He was another story unto himself. Kay believed that his claim to this position was only due to the fact that his brother was a lieutenant of the palace guard and well on his way to captain. Apparently there was too much trusting going on up to this point in the kingdom, and she guessed from his nervous glance that those days were almost over.


	3. Chapter 3

A Tale of Flynnigan Rider

Chapter 3

It had been a bad idea. He should not have eaten anything. He didn't have any idea what hurt so much or why, but he had lurched inward, curling himself into a ball again. Maybe he was feeling ill from having finally eaten something, but he had gone for just as long without food before.

Was he ill suddenly in addition to his injuries? That just wouldn't be fair, but he recognized with loathing how much his mouth was watering, how clammy his skin suddenly felt, the feeling of his stomach being forced up his throat - he was going to throw up and he had practically no way to move. Eugene was tempted to contaminate the Master's personal supplies, but he wouldn't in hope that someone more deserving might benefit from them.

He was definitely about to throw up. Eugene pushed himself up despite how his back screamed at him for it and stumbled, half walking and half dragging himself to the far corner. The cellar was dirt, anything rancid could easily be disposed of. Fortunately he hadn't eaten much, but by the time he was done he was sorry that he had eaten anything. Now he felt even weaker and he could not stop trembling. Great. Just great.

Eugene fell to his knees and forced himself to crawl back to where he had been lying. Relocated or not, his shoulder did not enjoy being moved, and Eugene enjoyed moving it even less. He finally lay down and let a quiet moan escape from his lips. From somewhere deep in forgotten memory he remembered the ill feeling in his gut, he felt a calm, gentle hand smoothing his hair down. That was too long ago and not very long ago.

"Mom." His lips said before he passed into a fitful sleep.

It was nearly nine o'clock before the Master finally called the confused children to order. There were to be no studies that day. Instead, the children were to clean the whole place, top to bottom. Wash bedding, wash and mend their clothes, sweep, scrub, and dust as had never been done before.

Kay took this as a good sign though she did not feel up to the task. Aside from being worried sick for Eugene she had not felt quite herself the last week. That was why she confessed her knowledge to Eugene, who was close to finishing "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider" for the fifth time. She doubted that the master knew - though oddly enough Eugene thought that he did - but if he did then he didn't care a bit that she was slowly dying.

Kay walked out with the others, prodding the children before her with gentle words as they filed to the bed chambers. She kept casting desperate side glances into the few doorways that they passed in hopes that the Master had had some mercy on Eugene. She didn't see him anywhere. Was he just planning to hide Eugene until after the king came?

She had to sit and think that out later. The Master was already pacing the hall before the last of the children had seeped into their respective rooms. Why did he do that? What exactly did he expect them to do but remove the coarse bedding and compose it in two large piles near the center of the room? Break out of this chamber of hell only to be caught and returned and punished severely beyond reason? No. None of them were as foolish as that.

"The older girls-" everyone startled and stood at attention. They had not seen him enter, but adversely he had not seemed to notice. "-will take the bed things out of doors and wash them. Not you, Kay. You will stay in with the younger girls and conduct a thorough cleaning of this apartment." All of the girls curtsied as they had been taught and the master left before watching them get to it. There was a tangible relief in the room when he did not shout at or revile a single one of them for not having immediately acknowledged his entrance.

The older girls went to their task without a word while Kay sent a several of the younger girls for the soap and water and brushes. She walked to the far side of the room to make her plan of action and almost stopped cold. Did the master realize - or perhaps this was the reason that he was commanding them to clean their apartment. There was a light smear of blood close to the window where she knew that Eugene had got in. Closer to her bed there was a larger stain, scarcely visible upon the darkened wood floor but clearly there none the less. She felt under the nearest unclothed bed, where she found her scarf stiff and stained with cracking dry blood. She hid it away immediately lest the master enter.

Across from her was the bed that Eugene had been cast against, and while his head had not been hit with enough force to make it bleed, the entire bedpost was covered in a strange coat of crackling red-brown. And right there in the middle of the floor were certainly bloodstains that must have fallen as he threatened her younger friend. Was he still bleeding this badly? Because this looked far worse than she had imagined. There was a noise at the door and she started, only to see the girls returning with their cleaning supplies. How could she possibly preserve the bloodstains without attracting the master's attention? Perhaps, she thought, he would be too preoccupied to notice. She dearly hoped that that was the case, because this would make their case before the king even stronger.

"You girls start here." She smiled as she approached and indicated the front of the room. "I'll start in the back and work my way toward you." The girls nodded and obeyed. They were too afraid of Antoine to be idle for longer than necessary, but Kay knew that they cleaned very frugally and very closely where it concerned his whims. That or get a lashing, and that none of them wanted. She started at the wall and cleaned as thoroughly as she needed, glancing back here and again to see that the girls were only to the second floor board while she was at the first bunk. She cleaned around the blood spots and spatter that Eugene had left behind. The wood was very dark. Even when it was freshly scrubbed it was dark, and she could barely see the blood. The emissary may not in that case see it either, but that was a risk that she decided to take. Besides, Eugene's treatment should be enough to convince them of that, that is, if they ever saw him.

The girls were set their task. Kay was out of the way for the time being, Eugene was probably too weak to scream loudly if he was to be moved. Antoine made his way through the kitchen, dismissing the scullery maids elsewhere - to help the boys in their tasks, he said, but truly it was to remove them from the area. The master opened the door to cellar and crept down before he could be observed. He shivered as he went down the stairs. It was cold when one got away from the sun. Now, where was that little ingrate - ugh! He recognized an ungodly stench immediately and decided to search for it before the orphan drowned in his own vomit. He tripped over a soft lump but kept going until he found the source of the smell - but it was in a small corner away from the food and there was no one about. He took a shovel from the corner and turned the earth over it several inches deep before the smell could spread. Served him right for trying to keep the beggar alive.

"Where are you, Eugene?" He growled, making sure that no one else could hear him. "Where are y- oh, heck! Who put a sack in the middle of -" and then he took a closer look. The lump hadn't moved or groaned though he had run into it twice. It had a face mostly covered over with a mop of unruly chocolate hair. Antoine got down on his knees, feeling Eugene's face, which was as clammy as the dirt floor that it was lying on. His hands were cold as death.

The master started to panic. If he lost another child to a 'sudden illness' that had not stricken another of the other children he would be deeply investigated and almost certainly found out. He pulled the boy up and shook him hard, but Eugene's head just fell back as he did so. Finally he put his ear to the boy's chest.

It seemed a long time in that dark, wet cellar before he finally heard a heart beat.

So he was still alive, and that was good news in its own way. The king's emissary would arrive any day now - his brother could not be more specific with a message that was not supposed to be sent, and this was meant to be a surprise inspection. Well, the orphans knew better than to speak a word outside of what he had allowed them to say as mild a consolation as that was. But right now it was clear that he had to get this boy warm immediately. There was no way that he could explain a young boy dead of such a severe lashing. He wanted to reason his way out of the responsibility, but he knew that it was fully on him.

"Wake up, darn you." He muttered, striking Eugene across the face. He moaned faintly, but there was no other reaction. What was he going to do? Where could he put him for that time? If it wasn't for the girls in the kitchen then he would leave him by the fireplace. That wasn't an option. But there was another room in the orphanage that had a fireplace, one that perhaps the emissary would not inspect. He grudgingly lifted the boy up and threw him over his shoulder. Eugene moaned again but still didn't move.

Grumbling to himself, he climbed the flight of stairs and peeked through the door before stepping out and locking it behind him. He lay Eugene down in the hearth and lurked down the hall, closing the doors and locking them as he passed. Kay saw him though he didn't notice. Finally he came to his own quarters and unlocked the door, entering a scene that seemed far removed from the rest of the orphanage. The bed was large, the posts hand carved, the bed curtain heavy velvet that kept out the cold of the night air while he was about searching the floors for insubordination. A thick rug covered the greater portion of the floor. To the farthest wall he walked, where the embers of the night's fire lay as ready to obey him as the orphans that had never seen nor imagined the state of this abode.

He cringed for a moment at the thought of laying the whelp on his own bed, but quickly thought better of it. Instead he pulled out a few blankets from the chest at the foot of the bed, laying them out in a pile on the floor something like a mattress, and covered them finally with the rough wool blanket that the orphans all used. There was no need or reasons for a commission to enter his private living quarters, so as long as the brat made no sound, they would never know. He had no worries as to what the other children might say. They knew better.

He surveyed the room a moment before drawing the curtain - on the off chance that someone would look in the window. There. That should do it. He would sleep in his office until he could throw Eugene back in the cellar, which would be the minute that the commission was out of sight. Finally he turned about and trudged back to the kitchen.

Kay had seen him close the door and she had seen the look in his eyes as he did so. Utterly heartless like usual, but in this instance just so very very bitter and angry. She was always wary when that look came upon him, but right now she was terrified by it. He had closed and locked the door, and what else could he be doing but bringing Eugene through...and putting him where? She couldn't chase him down, that would cause too much commotion amongst the children, especially if Eugene were very bad at this point. Plus she would be forced to climb out the window, which just would not work well.

She shuddered at the thought of most of these children doomed to be raised here, and yet shuddered still more in the thought of them being attacked by some manner of forest creature if they tried to escape, because there was a lot of forest in between them and the surrounding towns and villages, and the cries of wolves could often be heard. There only chance ever was after night fall and still they had no chance.

Anyway, Eugene. Kay was by now one bed beyond the place that was decorated in blood and hoped that Antoine would not see. This was her fail safe if the master hid Eugene away somewhere beyond help. If Eugene was in the root cellar then certainly he would have to be moved, for the food stuffs and stores were checked. Just how bad was he? Would she ever saw him alive again? Kay woke from her thoughts and glanced at the younger girls only to see them all staring at her. She looked herself over quickly, noticing nothing shocking or unusual, when one of the girls finally spoke up in a scared whisper.

"He locked us in, Kay. He locked the door. Is he - is he going to set the orphanage on fire?" The look on Kay's face turned from one concerned question to that of sudden laughter.

"Oh no, no, no, dear. No. He would never do that." She laughed but added under her breath, "Not when everyone would know what had happened." But why would she think that? Perhaps not all of the tales of Flynnigan Rider were appropriate for all of the children. She heard the footsteps of the master pass the door again, this time testing the lock, and then recede down the hall.

"I don't know what he's doing, girls, but we had better get back to work before he comes back, huh?" She chided. The older girls nodded and wrung their rags into the bucket. The younger ones just followed suit. As long as they avoided the Master they didn't really seem to care very much what went one way or the other. Kay was most afraid for them. If they never left this place they would be just as lifeless as the poor scullery maids in the orphanage kitchen. She wished that she knew some way to give them some hope, some reason to fight. If only they could understand that this was not what life was meant to be. If only Eugene's fight and feistiness would rub off on them. Thinking of which, she hadn't noticed whether the footsteps had returned or no. She suddenly thought that maybe she did know what Antoine was doing.

The master stalked back to the kitchen, checking the doors as he went just to be certain that they were locked. It wouldn't do to have any of the children peeping out and seeing one of their leaders draped over his shoulder like a dead thing. He wished that Eugene was dead for all the trouble that he'd caused him. Not that he was all that different from all of the orphans, but he kept telling them all stories, and telling them that things would get better. The heck they would. He was an orphan, just as unwanted and unloved as the rest of the orphans there and the master really didn't see a reason to tell them otherwise.

And then there was the fiasco that had started this entire thing. The couple who would willingly have taken an older orphan couldn't even see Eugene because he had run off, and the other few boys older than him were very nearly come of age. No, he'd had to give up one of the newer orphans, one that could have been useful for a long time and easily beaten down instead of keeping Eugene. High-spirited boys were not meant for his orphanage, and this one just never seemed to give up. He may perhaps have been somewhat hasty in his anger, but the boy knew that he was in for a beating. He hadn't even tried to hide. And then he had just stood there - as long as he could stand - taking the beating without more than a few gasps, though near the end he wasn't able to hold it in any longer.

Antoine finally turned in to the kitchen, pleased to find that no one was standing there gaping at Eugene. The boy hadn't moved and there was still no color in his cheeks. The only change with him was that he'd been slightly warmed by the fire. He whimpered when he was lifted up, but the sound didn't touch the master's heart in the slightest, but neither had his strangled cries the night before. Antoine bent and examined the stones of the hearth to be certain that no tell-tale traces of blood upon them. There was nothing. He turned around with a satisfied smirk and hauled Eugene down to his room, down the long corridor with its closed doors hiding the children who meticulously cleaned each crack in the floor boards rather than getting a slap from the master's belt. He closed his door immediately, even sliding the draw bolt closed for fear that someone might come in. Ugh, Eugene was getting too heavy to be carted around like this anymore - another reason to have gotten rid of him.

He started grumbling to himself as he walked to the fireplace and dropped the boy onto the floor with a satisfying 'thump'. Not a peep. Antoine rolled his eyes and stretched his back as if he'd been working the whole day through. The misguided concern that he had felt when he thought that the boy might have been dead had completely worn off. As long as he wasn't dead, the master really didn't care whether he was ill or not - so long as he didn't get caught.

Antoine looked Eugene over briefly. He was still breathing, not making too much noise, though he was kind of cold for a living thing. He grabbed another wool blanket from his stash and threw it over Eugene, careful not to get the edges too near the fire. Eugene moaned again. Probably because of his back, which through all of this Antoine had not actually looked at once. He sneered and got down on his knees, pulling the blankets back and turning the boy over to get a look at his back. Eugene whined, but the master almost yelped and spent the next few minutes trying to regain his color. That was - horrible. And if the king ever found out? If he were caught? No. No, that wasn't going to happen! His brother would make sure of it. It was this torture for ten more years or to go to prison for ten more years if he was found incompetent. If the king ever found out about his deal he and several others would be done for! He didn't want this to cost him his freedom. Antoine stood up, cursed the young boy and left the room quickly, making sure that he locked the door behind him.


End file.
